FOM Newsletter February 2002
FOM Newsletter February 2002 Index
Morocco Week in Review February 16, 2002 

Poverty worsens in Morocco, call for action on several fronts.
Steep rise in poverty in Morocco - minister.
Morocco says rainfall levels sharply below average.
Desertification threatens 90 percent of Moroccan land.
EU grants Morocco $105-mln for water projects.
Japan donates Moroccan hospital us$ 57,748.
World tourism and hospitality training association signs agreements with Moroccan associations.
2nd Marrakesh cinema festival slated for next September.
Morocco moves to rehabilitate Kasbahs in Tafilalet.
Jesus' Video to be shot in Ouarzazate.
H.M King Mohammed VI Calls for Involving Youth in Associations
King Mohammed: social organizations are a wealth to a nation.

Nearly 5.5 million Moroccans live below the poverty line at present, compared to 4.2 million in 1998. The figures were disclosed by Moroccan minister of employment, vocational training, social development and solidarity, Abbas El-Fassi, Thursday. El Fassi, who was giving a lecture on "politics and the government's social programs" at the Law school in Settat, 170 to the south-east of Rabat, related the increase in poverty to the drought that affected the country for three consecutive years, to the hike in oil prices and to the educational system that does not match training to the employment market needs. The official, who surveyed the action of the alternation government -that was formed in 1998, putting an end to about 40 years of right-wing rule-conceded "a lack of communication" mainly with the citizens. He deplored the "lack of control on the use of public money" since 1963 and said the Alternation cabinet inherited public institutions that are on the verge of bankruptcy.  Touching on the cabinet's achievements, El-Fassi said unemployment rate decreased by 1.2 percent during the first nine months of 2001 compared to the same period in 2000, as the rate went down from 14.2 percent to 13 percent. The unemployment rate that neared 22.4 percent in the urban milieu in 2000 dropped to 19.5 percent in 2001. Unemployment among high degree-holders also dropped from 31.1 per cent in 2000 to 26.8 percent in 2001, the official said, insisting that the state cannot be the major job-provider and that the private sector should play a key role in this regard. El-Fassi also spoke about investments saying that the investor is requesting the moralization of public life, and the reform of the administration, the tax system and the real-estate regulations. He lauded in this regard the moves initiated by King Mohammed VI to give incentives to investments through decentralization as it came in the royal letter on investments addressed to the Prime Minister. In the same vein, the official underlined the need to consecrate democracy in settling Morocco's economic and social problems and to see to it that the coming legislative elections be "free and honest." The elections are scheduled for next september.

RABAT, Feb 15 (Reuters) -- The number of Moroccans living below the poverty line of about one dollar a day has risen from 4.2 million in 1998 to 5.5 million, or 18 percent of the population, a minister said on Friday. Abbas El Fassi, Employment, Training and Social Development Minister, told a conference the rise stemmed mainly from three years of drought which had hit the agriculture-reliant economy and hampered economic growth. In remarks carried by the official MAP news agency, El Fassi said it was also due to a rise in crude oil prices and "an educational system inherited by the current government which does not link training to employment." The latest official figures put the unemployment rate in Morocco at 13 percent of the 10.5-million workforce. The government, which took power in 1998, led for the first time by the Socialists Union of Popular Forces (USFP), had set the eradication of poverty and corruption among its priorities. Government critics say efforts so far have been fruitless.

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

RABAT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Morocco's rainfall levels since the start of the new farming season are sharply below average after almost two months of dry weather, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday. "The figure shows a 29 percent deficit compared to the average of a normal year," the ministry said in a statement on conditions in the September-February 10 period. The agricultural campaign in Morocco starts in September. Morocco has faced in the past decade a cycle of drought, with an average two dry year in three, a cereals farmer said. "If it does not rain in the coming few weeks, Morocco would face drought with all the negative effects that involves on the agriculture sector," he added. Farming employs nearlyhalf Morocco's 10.5 million workforce and contributes to up to 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product. ((Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37

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Desertification threatens 90 percent of Moroccan land.

Desertification threatens 90 percent of land in Morocco, where forests cover only 8 percent of the national territory. The alarming figures were disclosed Friday in Rabat by water and forests minister, Hassan Maaouni, at a scientific seminar on water traditional management. The minister imputed the intensification of desert encroachment to strong demographic growth and weak adaptation of natural resources exploitation. Maaouni also warned of increasing erosion, noting that 25 percent of the 20 million hectares of basins in Morocco risk hydraulic erosion. The official also deplored weak exploitation of water resources. Morocco's water resources are estimated at 150 billion cubic meters annually and only 16 billion cubic meters of surface waters and 4 billion of underground water are exploited. 80 percent of this water is used in agriculture and 14 percent in domestic and industrial consumption, he said. Maaouni called for the promotion of economically and ecologically viable exploitation practices and a rational management of water infrastructures (dams and reservoirs) combining an efficient struggle against water squandering.

1.22 billion dirhams ($105 million) funds in euros for water projects, Finance Minister Fathallah Oulalou said. The fund is part of a 700 million euro package under the MEDA II programme for 2001-2004 period, the minister added. The signing ceremony, which took place at the finance ministry headquarters was attended by representatives of EU mission in Morocco and the Spanish ambassador in Rabat. The MEDA programme aims to support Morocco's social and economic reforms, including the development of remote rural areas such as the mountainous northern Rif province.  

(Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)

The Japanese Government has extended the Rabat Ibn Sina Hospital US$ 57,748 (669,880 DH) to help the facility purchase medical equipment. The money will be used to buy cradles, reanimation beds, heart surveillance devices and other equipment. The donation was handed to the Moroccan health department by Japan's ambassador to Morocco, Hiromi Sato. Japan has already contributed 18 million Dirhams, nearly US$1.55 million, to 50 health programs in Morocco, particularly in rural areas. Japanese assistance to Morocco between 1989 and 2001 amounted to 72.8 million Dirhams, nearly US$ 6.275 million.

World tourism and hospitality training association signs agreements with Moroccan associations.

The World association of tourism and hospitality training, which held here Feb.8-10 an international forum under the patronage of King Mohammed VI, has signed several agreements with Moroccan and foreign tourism associations. The conventions provide for cooperation enhancing and exchange of training and expertise. Agreements were signed between the association and the Kiev tourism university, the Marrakesh hotel industry association, the Marrakesh higher institute of hotel and restaurant industry and the Marrakesh institute of hotel and tourism technology.  Participants announced the birth of a new science called "tourismology" which they said needs to be developed to become a full-fledged science studying training and economic and social stakes of the trade. The final statement notes that various workshops held converged on the need to make of tourism studies a science that will study both the tourists aspects and relations between professionals. The goal, they recommended, will be that this science will raise the level of training, promote research and optimize working tools on the basis of various sciences.

The 2nd Marrakesh international film Festival will be held from September 18-22, said French film critic Daniel Toscan Du Plantier, who chaired the 1st edition's executive committee. The event now has a special foundation set up by King Mohammed VI and chaired by Prince Moulay Rachid. Beyond its substantial economic and tourism impact, the 1st festival was a complete success as it set up a platform for encounters, exchanges and dialogue between the motion picture fans and professionals. The 1st festival, held last September in the morrow of attacks against the USA, was hailed by all participants and by the international media as a response to terrorism, a symbol of peace, coexistence of various cultures and tolerance. Chairwoman of the festival jury, British actress Charlotte Rampling said her desire to be in Morocco had grown stronger after the attacks. She stressed the need to maintain ties and especially to oppose the amalgam "Muslim equals terrorist." French actor, Claude lelouch who presented his latest movie "And Now Ladies and Gentlemen" which was shot in Morocco, said "nightmare has declared war on dream, we are in Marrakesh to declare war on nightmare." Morocco ambitions to create an event meeting the same requirements and rigor as outstanding world festivals like those of Cannes, Venice, or Berlin.

Morocco has launched a large-scale program to rehabilitate Kasbahs and similar ancient architectural sites in the south. The program covers the Kasbahs and ksours of Tafilalt and Erfoud in southern Morocco. The Dar Lakbira (Great House) of Ksar Alfida will be rehabilitated part of the operation, and will host the first regional museum of Tafilalet, when rehabilitation works are over within the five coming months. The building, located 4 km to the east of Rissani, was constructed in the 18th century at the instruction of Sultan Moulay Ismail. The rehabilitation of the Moulay Abdelkrim Kasbah, that was built in the 17th century, will cost about two million Dirhams (about US$ 174 thousand). The kasbah is located in front of the Moulay Ali Ch?rif mausoleum. The Ksar Jrana dates back to the 18th and the first phase of its rehabilitation will cost 800,000 DH (nearly $ 69,565).

German director Sebastian Niemann will start the shooting of his TV-film "Jesus' Video" on February 25 in the south-eastern city of Ouarzazate before carrying on the shooting in Casablanca.  The shooting of the 180-mn film will last about seven weeks, an executive of the Moroccan Rabii Film company, Omar Jaoual, told MAP. The movie, produced by the TV network Pro7 of the German Kirch Media group, will cost more than 6 million Euros and is expected to be viewed by 10 to 11 million TV viewers. Some thirty high skilled Moroccan technicians and about ten Moroccan actors will participate in the movie, in addition to some 1,000 to 1,2000 extras. This fiction film is based on a 600-page novel by Andreas Eschbach.

RABAT, Feb. 14 - H.M King Mohammed VI on Thursday urged civil associations actors to encourage the youth to adhere to the association movement. Such movement "is an exemplary school of democracy and solidarity and a catalyst to liberate youth's energies to the service of society and general interest," said H.M King Mohammed VI in a message to study days that opened Thursday in Rabat on "Association management." The Sovereign called on associations to adopt a modern and efficient management and to get grouped in federations to be an efficient interlocutor for their different partners. He lauded associations as "genuine national wealth." 

The variety of the associations' fields of action and their suggestion power make of them inevitable partners for the achievement of the progress and modernization to which Morocco aspires, he said in the message read on his behalf by Royal Advisor, Ms. Zoulikha Nasri. The study days are debating issues related to the legal frame of associations, their fiscal management and means to boost coordination and partnership among them.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Thursday urged civil associations actors to encourage the youth to adhere to the association movement. Such movement "is an exemplary school of democracy and solidarity and a catalyst to liberate youth's energies to the service of society and general interest," said King Mohammed VI in a message to study days that opened Thursday in Rabat on "Association management." The king also called on associations to adopt a modern and efficient management and to get grouped in federations to be an efficient interlocutor for their different partners. "We encourage associations to transcend sterile traditional management methods, which still prevail in some of them, to adopt a modern and efficient management culture and to be grouped in federations that will allow them to pool their experiences and become this an efficient interlocutor for their different partners," said King Mohammed VI. The king lauded associations as "genuine national wealth." The variety of the associations' fields of action and their suggestion power make of them inevitable partners for the achievement of the progress and modernization to which Morocco aspires, he said in the message read on his behalf by Royal Advisor, Ms. Zoulikha Nasri. The study days, sponsored by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation, are studying issues related to the legal frame of associations, theirmfiscal management and means to boost coordination and partnership among them. The opening session was attended by Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi.

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